Is baseball spring training worth it for Osceola County?

(Barry Gossage, Orlando…)

August 3, 2013|By David Breen, Orlando Sentinel

Depending on who's doing the talking, Major League Baseball spring training is an economic-development bonanza that will attract hordes of visitors who'll spend millions at local businesses for decades to come.

Or it's a giant cash giveaway to millionaire players and billionaire owners, paid for with tourist-tax money that would otherwise pay for vital marketing campaigns and for fixing up local venues, including the rodeo stadium.

That's the argument playing out in Osceola County, where a proposed $98 million stadium complex for the Washington Nationals has divided elected officials as well as tourism and sports interests.

After an initial rejection by a 3-2 vote, the County Commission decided to take a final vote Aug. 19.

In the meantime, disagreement over the merits of the deal — which would obligate the county to devote essentially all of its tourist-tax money to the stadium complex for three decades — played a role in the unexpected resignation of Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber of Commerce President David Nolan.

A vocal opponent of the deal, he stepped down in late July after only five months on the job.

Under the terms of the deal, Osceola would commit $174.8 million in tourist-tax money to the project from 2014 until 2044.

That would put improvements to other venues such as Austin Tindall Regional Park, Silver Spurs Arena and Osceola County Stadium out of financial reach and gobble up funds for tourism-marketing efforts.

If any other projects come along, they would be unworkable because of the money tied up in the Nationals complex.

"How do we know we can do this? What does it mean to the sales and marketing budget? There's a lot of what-ifs," said Brian Wong, a hotelier and chairman of the county's Tourist Development Committee.

"I'm looking at alternatives to bring to the table," Wong added. "And that in my opinion would be a crime not to take your time and consider all the alternatives when you're considering an investment of this magnitude."

The debate over spring training is nothing new to Florida.

As recently as 2000 the state hosted 20 of 30 Major League teams each spring. But five have departed for Arizona since then.

New state incentives aimed at stopping the exodus have essentially turned Florida communities into competitors who must bid against one another to land or retain a team.

Those incentives played a role in the Houston Astros' decision to leave Kissimmee, where the team has trained since 1985, after its contract expires in 2016. Osceola then reached out to the Nationals to take the Astros' place in a brand-new facility, but commissioners balked at the deal.

"They're not bringing us a bad deal. They're bringing us a typical spring-training deal," said commission Chairman Frank Attkisson. "Which is, 'We're Major League Baseball. You should be thrilled to have us in your community. Please give us the dollars and don't expect any results.'"

The Nationals organization did not respond to a request for comment.

Gov. Rick Scott touted record attendance at several venues this spring, and a 2009 study done for the Florida Sports Commission contends that spring training generated $752.3 million in spending that year.

But numbers like those are flawed, misleading or even deceptive, said Mark Soskin, an associate professor of economics at the University of Central Florida who studies the economic impact of sports.

He takes particular issue with claims that money spent at spring-training sites during the monthlong season keeps circulating in the community.

"Lots of these dollars leave the areas in terms of salaries to players and staff who don't even live in the area," Soskin said. And in Osceola's case, "they have too many leakages in the system. People can go spend in other areas like Orange County, so the multipliers tend to be extremely, extremely low. How low? The dollar doesn't even hit the ground before it's gone."

While conceding an argument can be made based on quality of life and civic pride, Soskin said there's no financial justification for publicly funding spring-training venues.

John Webb is president of the Florida Sports Commission, which is part of Enterprise Florida, the state's public-private economic-development arm. He sees spring training as an asset to Florida.

"I think the economics of spring training works," Webb said. But Webb said each community must decide whether spring training is the right fit.

"Everybody wants a $100 million stadium, and I'm not sure that's needed," Webb said of the newest wave of spring-training venues, such as Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. That facility opened in 2011 near Scottsdale, Ariz., and is shared by the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies.

"That's probably the million-dollar question. How much is enough or how much is really feasible for the community?"

Venues such as Salt River Fields aren't just stadiums — they include state-of-the-art training facilities and practice fields; first-class team offices; and a grandeur more suited to a luxury resort than a ballpark. HKS Architects, the company that designed Salt River Fields, would design the Osceola complex if it's approved.

Speaking Monday, Attkisson didn't sound optimistic that the county and the team could reach an agreement ahead of the Aug. 19 meeting.

"I'm not sure the Nationals have a reason to change it unless they change the whole spring-training model," he said. "For a baseball purist it's fabulous. But when you're paying for it with tax dollars that you're obligated to spend to develop tourism, I think it falls below the mark."

But UCF's Soskin said he'd be surprised if Osceola leaders didn't eventually agree to the Nationals deal.